The Average Pearl

It’s February and I wanted to give an update on homeschool plus an opportunity for any homeschoolers who could benefit from a state-funded program.

You might remember I’m a big advocate for public school–not necessarily the agenda or method of public schooling, but the actual, warm-blooded people who facilitate learning and embrace children as worthy of being taught.

Guys, I miss public school terribly. I miss seeing faces, entire faces of little kids lined up along the brick building, chatting happily before the bell rings. I miss sneaking in the teacher break room and spreading out goodies on the table to surprise them. I miss the librarian, who always asked me how my book writing was coming along. I miss asking how the school secretary’s new grandbaby is doing. I miss picking the boys up after school, their feet flying, racing to see who gets to me first. I miss asking how their day went. I miss smoothing out the rough parts over an afternoon snack. I miss the stories about other students from a child’s perspective. They were learning so much–about people who disagree with them, people with different world views, and how to get along with difficult folks.

I have a boy who takes the dog on a daily walk and he times it so he can walk past the playground during recess…Just so he can get a look at his old schoolmates.

Our local district is back to in-person learning, but the heavy political air and edginess (plus mask, hand sanitizing, and temp-taking) has me still sitting this year out. Recently the district was notified by the health department of a vaccine surplus (amounting to about 200 doses). The email was sent out on a Saturday afternoon: first come, first served. Within hours, school employees had created a traffic jam in Denver and were abandoning their vehicles on the highway to run to the distribution site.

If this is society–where teachers must rely on Saturday emails and folks are willing to cause a car accident to get vaccinated, then I’ll gladly sit this year out.

Back in August, in my intense Google researching that typically leads me down a thousand rabbit trails (yesterday it was indoor greenhouses, mando-cellos, and does Lester Holt have a ponytail?), I stumbled upon something called My Tech High.

Essentially, it is a homeschool supplement program that is state-funded. My Tech High is the middleman for funneling money from the state into the hands of at-home learners. In Colorado, for example, somewhere between $8,000-13,000 is allotted, per student per year, to public schools. When I withdraw my children from school and sign up for an alternative program such as My Tech High, that money is diverted to MTH, which then offers a bevy of online learning resources, tech courses, and customizable project-based classes.
For each of my enrolled kids I get $1,600 to spend on courses and tech. You might be surprised what is allowed and what isn’t: This year so far I’ve paid for Amazon prime, a new guitar, private music lessons, monthly internet service, bath bomb supplies (science), microscope, board games, books, an online algebra course, art supplies, printer, screen printing kit, ski passes, Kiwi crates, skis, and (*gulp*) three drones. (Don’t buy boys drones, seriously. The biggest money pit, next to broken bones.) I’m thinking of buying a greenhouse and grow lamps with the funds I have left.

We submit a learning log once a week–a simple, easy milestone that is approved by one of MTH’s “homeroom” teachers. Other than that, schooling is up to us. I have them do math every morning (free access to Greg Tang worksheets and Edmentum learning path). On the days I don’t want them near a computer we explore, ski, play music or games, read, assemble projects, work on clay animation, paint, sketch, write a family newspaper, etc. On the days I don’t mind computer work, they do digital animation (Luke has a wacom table and Frames app from MTH), edit drone videos (we have an Adobe subscription through MTH), log on to BrainPop!, watch Generation Genius or Mystery Science, do math drills on Imagine Math, Minecraft education, etc. Every quarter I have them do an online assessment for math, language arts, and reading–again, through MTH online resources.

Obviously, MTH is probably still making a killing on their state voucher, supplemental homeschool model. But most every homeschooler I know feels a smidge indignant over the idea that other kids are regularly educated thanks to their tax money, and MTH is a great equalizer in that respect. If you don’t care about the funding of your local school because you homeschool anyway, this is your chance to get some money back.

This is not available in every state, but I do think with the education system as divided as it is now–this is the future of public school.

I think there will be some enterprising people who come up with an a la carte system of schooling where education becomes more of a tax-payers-pay-for-what-you-want. At least, that is if politicians open their eyeballs to what the people want.
I’m really fortunate I happened upon MTH when I did, because I had no clue how I was going to school my kids. I just knew I wasn’t going to make them wear masks all day in school, keep six feet away from other kids at all times, and pretend it was completely normal, as if learning wasn’t hindered in any way. 

Don’t get me wrong–I still love and miss public school. I’m so indecisive about what to do next year. 

Public school is increasingly more humanistic and off-putting with their constant contradictions: “We welcome EVERYONE regardless of color, class, behavior, experience, orientation…We are TOLERANT.” —then they send out emails suggesting how I celebrate the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day on the weekend. Too much of minding everyone’s business but their own.

On the other hand, there is a dangerous attitude in homeschooling that declares, “We are individualists; it’s OUR privilege and duty to raise outstanding, albeit sheltered children who will one day be successful.” –this mindset entirely ignores the crucial, social element that growing up in the world presents.

But I am living in this weird space between worlds, and often the tension clues me in to what I need to focus on: keeping things as normal as possible for my kids. They need to keep learning, but they need to keep interacting with others.

So do I.

MTH offers similar programs in Colorado, Utah, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Idaho.